You’ll find around 120 schools with business programs in Ohio. Degrees on all levels are easy to find and majors and concentrations cover a wide array of business fields. Many of those fields will have a scholarship associated with them. For example, Ohio students hoping to study project management may be eligible for the PMI Southwest Ohio Chapter Scholarship.

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Business Degree Programs in Ohio

Listed below are all of the colleges and universities in Ohio that offer business degree programs. If you want to narrow it down a bit more, you can browse our listings of specific types of business degree programs in Ohio:

Marketing degree programs in Ohio >

State of Ohio's Marketing Industry

The Buckeye State has one of the most diverse economies in the nation. Manufacturing and financial services are the largest sectors, but the state also has a stake in health care, insurance, retail, energy - you name it. The recession dented the economy, but couldn't destroy it.

In fact, Ohio plays host to 50 of the 1,000 largest public and private companies in the nation, the sixth-most of any state, according to Forbes in 2012. They include behemoths like Cardinal Health, Kroger, Procter & Gamble, Marathon Petroleum, Nationwide and Macy's. All help to finance a sturdy marketing industry.

The state is also being refueled by natural gas investment. In 2011, the oil and gas industry contributed $910 million in state and local taxes, according to a 2012 study from the research firm IHS. Also in 2012, 38,000 oil and natural gas-related jobs were created in Ohio.

Graduates can try their luck with big agencies like Matrix Media Services and Fahlgren Mortine, or they can talk to up-and-comers. OuterBox Solutions, FLM and Healthcare Regional Marketing (HRM) were the best advertising and marketing performers on Inc.'s 2012 Top 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies.

If Fortune 500s aren't hiring, think outside the box. To counteract a brain drain from the Rust Belt, the state government has developed a number of business initiatives to foster growth in technology, bioscience and other 21st century industries, according to the Ohio Development Services Agency. These initiatives, among them Ohio Third Frontier, may be looking for smart marketers.

Ohio Schools for Marketing

There are 60 accredited marketing schools in Ohio, excluding private liberal arts colleges and the like. Here are two to compare:

OSU's Fisher College of Business has developed a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a major in marketing, an MBA, and a doctorate in marketing. Cementing its excellent reputation, the college was ranked #25 in "Best Business Schools" by U.S. News & World Report in 2013, and #13 for its undergraduate marketing program.

Fisher has put a particular emphasis on international business. The school offers a variety of study-abroad programs and internships, as well as hosting an annual International Business Club Summit.

Ranked #52 by U.S. News & World Report in 2013, Case's Weatherhead School of Management offers a Bachelor of Science in Management with a concentration in marketing as well as an MBA. Weatherhead has a variety of doctoral programs, but none specifically in marketing.

To expand their job horizons, undergraduates can take part in summer internships or semester-long co-op opportunities. The Action Learning course for seniors includes Weatherhead's "consulting boot camp," where students are required to consult for a local company.

Professional Marketing Organizations in Ohio

Ohio has more marketing associations, chapters and clubs than you can shake a stick at. Most of them are active in organizing social events, continuing education courses and other useful professional opportunities.

AAF Chapters (http://www.aaf.org/): List of eight Ohio chapters of the American Advertising Federation

Ohio benefits from a strategic, central business location that attracts large national and multinational corporations. Within a 600-mile radius of Ohio, you can find 58.3 percent of the U.S. population, 55.9 percent of all wholesale distributors, 61 percent of all industrial manufacturing operations, and 60.8 percent of all retail establishments in the U.S.

This makes Ohio a prime location for big businesses, such as the state’s 2015 Fortune 500 companies, which included:

Kroger in Cincinnati – $108,465 million revenue

Marathon Petroleum in Findlay – $91,417 million revenue

Cardinal Health in Dublin – $91,084 million revenue

Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati – $84,537 million revenue

Nationwide in Columbus – $36,257 million revenue

Macy’s in Cincinnati – $28,105 million revenue

Progressive in Mayfield Village - $19,391 million revenue

Goodyear Tire & Rubber in Akron - $18,318 million revenue

These company headquarters tend to form in clusters around Ohio’s major metropolitan areas, such as Cincinnati, Columbus, Toledo, Findlay, Akron, and Cleveland.

Students pursuing bachelor’s degrees or MBAs in Ohio’s business schools often use their specialized education to compete for jobs with these corporations in areas like human resource management, sales, accounting, marketing, executive leadership, and more.

With the right degree and some business acumen, business school graduates often go on to earn a six-figure income. For instance, the median income for chief executives in Ohio as of 2014 was $183,640, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The Department of Labor also listed the median earnings for some of Ohio’s other top business occupations in 2014, which included:

Sales Managers - $118,010

Human Resources Managers - $105,270

Economists - $126,250

Earning a Degree in International Business in Ohio

More than 200 countries around the world imported finished goods, raw materials and services from Ohio in 2014, making it the 9th largest exporting state in the entire U.S., according to the Ohio Department of Development.

Business school students in Ohio may choose to pursue bachelor’s degrees and specialized MBAs in international business, international marketing, or international finance. With this expertise, they are prepared to compete for jobs as international marketing managers, international business development directors, import/export compliance specialists and more.

By studying area-specific tax laws, business laws, language, and culture, students in Ohio’s business schools can become leading trade negotiators, working with some of Ohio’s top international trade partners. In 2014, Ohio’s largest trade partners included:

Canada - $20.6 billion exports

Mexico - $6.0 billion exports

China - $3.9 billion exports

United Kingdom - $1.8 billion exports

Germany - $1.7 billion exports

France - $1.4 billion exports

The Netherlands - $.8 billion exports

In 2014, Ohio was ranked 5th in the US for exporting machinery, which generated a total of $9.5 billion for the state. Aspiring international business professionals often opt to earn degrees that will allow them to become part of businesses in the state’s top exporting industries, which include:

Vehicle manufacturing

Aircraft manufacturing

Electrical machinery

Plastic manufacturing

Optics manufacturing

Ohio’s Small Businesses in Action

Ohio’s economy is friendly to small businesses, as well. The Ohio Department of Development found that, in 2011, innovative entrepreneurs throughout the state created 22,287 business start-ups.

The counties with the highest number of start-ups included:

Hamilton – 1,586

Montgomery – 1,126

Franklin – 2,863

Cuyahoga – 2,310

Aspiring entrepreneurs in Ohio often earn their bachelor’s degree in business and advance to a master’s degree in entrepreneurship.

Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management offers a number of nationally-ranked programs. The importance of creativity is a driving philosophy across their programs, with innovative courses built around the themes of "Managing by Designing" and "Sustainable Enterprise Initiatives." In addition to the standard Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, the Weatherhead School offers a part-time MBA that is designed to fit the schedules of working individuals, as well as an Executive MBA designed for seasoned professionals with at least 15 years of work experience. The Global MBA offers students the opportunity to study abroad at the Tongji University School of Economics and Management (SEM-Tongji) in Shanghai, China or the Xavier Labour Relations Institute (XLRI) in Jamshedpur, India.

Ohio University's online MBA programs offer courses of study that are identical to those than can be obtained through the on-campus experience. Nationally-ranked and accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), these online programs puts this well-known state university's MBA within reach, whether you live in Ohio or not. You can earn a general MBA or focus on executive management, healthcare or finance. The program focuses on leadership and managing change in an increasingly complex world. It is designed for completion within two years, although working professionals can opt to complete it over a longer stretch of time.

Ohio State offers a traditional MBA that is small by design in order to foster a close community and hands-on learning. The school places significant emphasis on career placement - in fact, 95 percent of graduates find a job within three months of finishing their degrees, even in a lagging economy. Their Career Management Team works with over 300 companies, from Fortune 500 to start-ups across industries and in many locations. On-campus recruitment events are supported by field trips to large firms in New York and Chicago, as well as to local employers.

The University of Toledo's College of Business and Innovation offers both a Professional MBA and an Executive MBA, both of which are AACSB accredited. Students can take advantage of a sophisticated learning environment, which includes state-of-the-art, fully-networked classrooms and innovative learning labs. The Executive MBA program, developed to accommodate working professionals, has been ranked second in the nation by U.S. News & World Report in the area of Student Services and Technology. It can be completed in just 12 months through attending classes one weekend each month. In-state students enjoy the added benefit of reduced tuition.

The University of Northwestern Ohio's online MBA program is has an entrepreneurial focus and can be pursued full time or part time. Students can attend classes just once a week or complete the program entirely online. The online program can be completed in as little as 18 months and it's one of the most affordable MBA programs in the country. The school is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP).